Wow. So we have one week down of five. Can’t believe we made it through SXSW without a major breakdown or breakup or strike. To be honest, I lost my voice during the last stretch, but I made it through Saturday by a HAIR.
Quick Summary of our time in Austin!
My first show was a solo acoustic set for Austin’s amazing station KUT. We walked in during Ron Sexsmith’s set, which was beautiful. We wandered around town, ran into my good friends from The Antlers and had some tacos and tried to catch up in the fifteen minutes that we had. We then had to get ready for our first showcase for Brooklyn Vegan at Swan Dive. They had an amazing lineup. Lady Lamb the Beekeeper was on first. Sincere, direct, and unforgiving in the best way. Young and honest. We get to finish our tour doing a few dates together on the east coast. Look out! Tour dates are listed at the end of this post.
Thursday, we played the Other Music Party at the French Legation, saw Cass McCombs, Low, Edwyn Collins… heard Ted Leo in the distance. I got to meet Cass who was a total sweetheart and Mimi, who introduced HERSELF to ME! I just about lost it. She’s one of my heroes! Low is my top ten most influential bands of all time. Had to fight back the tears! Megafaun and Gayngs played later that night at The Mohawk and we ran into our friends from Jagjaguwar and Trekky Records and Emma from Lost in the trees.
Friday, we went to see Ty Segall and Small Black at Club DeVille for the Rhapsody showcase before we had The Onion AV Club showcase next door at The Mohawk. We were after Wye Oak and before Ted Leo. Baths played later on as Low hit the stage inside. TOO MUCH TO DO! We bumped into Thor from one of my favorite bands, Shearwater (he also plays drums for Swans). He is such a beautiful soul and it was so good to give/receive a hug from that magical man. Check out this video. It’s from his book, An Ocean of Despair. He wrote it. It changed my life.
Excerpt from An Ocean of Despair
Okay… now I am running out of time to finish my report – so here goes the rest of our time in brief.
Saw Pontiak (from Baltimore) then went to the Merge showcase at The Parish and saw Versus, Wye Oak (again!) and Wild Flag (DC based quartet consisting of Carrie Brownstein, Mary Timony, Rebecca Cole, and Janet Weiss) – and they kicked my ass!!!
I ended up losing my voice that night. I woke up Saturday and sounded like Julie Kavner. I felt a little embarrassed to walk into the IFC/Bowery Presents showcase in such shape, but the show must go on. There, I was interviewed by Ted Leo, who I found out grew up in the same town (Nutley, NJ) that I grew up in. And not only that, but his aunt sat next to my father in elementary school! How weird is that?! ALSO, he is one of the nicest most genuine and down to earth people I’ve met in a long time.
Two kids from Jersey
Birds of Avalon played at Friend Island (at the Home Tape Party). I lost my voice and I had to take a nap so I sent the boys to represent. I had to rest up for the Red Ryder showcase at the Presbyterian Church, which was our very last show of SXSW. There, we saw Haley Bonar, Rural Alberta Advantage, Typhoon, Jukebox the Ghost, and Great Lake Swimmers. We called it a night fairly early, got up and had some goodbye tacos at Torchy’s and followed the dirt road to Marfa, TX where stayed at El Cosmico to wind down, enjoy the silence, and regroup to prepare ourselves for the next 4 weeks of tour with Little Scream and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper.
el cosmico in Marfa, TX
03.22 Tucson, AZ: Solar Culture ^
03.23 Phoenix, AZ: Rhythm Room ^
03.24 San Diego, CA: Soda Bar ^
03.25 Los Angeles, CA: The Satellite ^
03.26 Costa Mesa, CA: Detroit Bar ^
03.27 San Francisco, CA: Bottom of the Hill ^ w/ Colossal Yes (of Comets on Fire)
03.29 Vancouver, BC: Media Club ^
03.30 Portland, OR: Doug Fir ^
04.01 Boise, ID: Neurolux ^
04.02 Salt Lake City, UT: State Room ^
04.03 Denver, CO: Walnut Room ^
04.04 Omaha, NE: Slowdown ^
04.06 Minneapolis, MN: Cedar Cultural Center ^
04.07 Milwaukee, WI: Pabst Theater ^
04.08 Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin ^
04.09 Chicago, IL: Lincoln Hall ^
04.10 Cleveland, OH: Beachland Tavern w/ Uno Lady
04.12 Toronto, ON: Drake Hotel w/ Picastro
04.13 Montreal, QC: Casa Del Popolo w/ Hidden Words (Alden Penner -ex Unicorns)
04.14 Boston, MA: Brighton Music Hall w/ Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
04.15. Northampton, MA: Iron Horse Music Hall w/ Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
04.16 Brooklyn, NY: Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Megafaun & She Keeps Bees
04.17 Washington, DC: Red Palace w/ Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
04.28 Munhall, PA: Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead w/ Iron & Wine
04.29 Cleveland, OH: House of Blues w/ Iron & Wine
^ with Little Scream